This paper focuses on energy-related attitudes and behaviors of Turkish women, who are the main users of electrical home appliances responsible for most household energy consumption. Answers from 1323 female respondents surveyed through a unique questionnaire formed the dataset. The results from analysis of variance show that education has a significant effect on the relationship between energy saving and awareness and attitudes about climate change. Significant differences also exist between education level groups in terms of knowledge of the classification of energy-saving electrical home appliances. Responses to questions related to energy-saving purchasing behaviors are consistently higher for knowledgeable respondents. The paper then uses factor analysis and ordinal logit models to reveal interactions between energy-saving behavior regarding electrical home appliances and several factors, namely awareness, sensitivity, essentials, and receptiveness. The identification of these factors can provide useful insights for policy makers that enable them to construct energy-saving policies specifically tailored toward women.
GardnerGSternP. Environmental problems and human behavior, 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2002, pp. 371.
3.
IEA. Energy use in the new millennium: trends in IEA countries, Paris: OECD Publishing, 2007.
4.
HavasLBallwegJPennaCet al.Power to change: analysis of household participation in a renewable energy and energy efficiency programme in Central Australia. Energy Policy2015; 87: 325–333.
5.
HaraKUwasuMKishitaYet al.Determinant factors of residential consumption and perception of energy conservation: time-series analysis by large-scale questionnaire in Suita, Japan. Energy Policy2015; 87: 240–249.
6.
SaidurRMasjukiHHJamaluddinMYet al.Energy and associated greenhouse gas emissions from household appliances in Malaysia. Energy Policy2007; 35: 1648–1657.
7.
WangZZhangBYinJet al.Determinants and policy implications for household electricity-saving behaviour: evidence from Beijing, China. Energy Policy2011; 39: 3550–3557.
8.
EllegårdKPalmJ. Visualizing energy consumption activities as a tool for making everyday life more sustainable. Appl Energy2011; 88: 1920–1926.
9.
AttariSZDeKayMLDavidsonCIet al.Public perceptions of energy consumption and savings. Proc Natl Acad Sci2010; 107: 16054–16059.
10.
MaGAndrews-SpeedPZhangJ. Chinese consumer attitudes towards energy saving: the case of household electrical appliances in Chongqing. Energy Policy2013; 56: 591–602.
11.
Di MariaCFerreiraSLazarovaE. Shedding light on the light bulb puzzle: the role of attitudes and perceptions in the adoption of energy efficient light bulbs. Scott J Polit Econ2010; 57: 48–67.
12.
ScottS. Household energy efficiency in Ireland: a replication study of ownership of energy saving items. Energy Econ1997; 19: 187–208.
13.
De VriesPAartsHMiddenCJH. Changing simple energy-related consumer behaviors: how the enactment of intentions is thwarted by acting and non-acting habits. Environ Behav2011; 43: 612–633.
14.
YuBTianYZhangJ. A dynamic active energy demand management system for evaluating the effect of policy scheme on household energy consumption behavior. Energy2015; 91: 491–506.
15.
Simon HA. Theories of decision-making in economics and behavioral science. Am Econ Rev 1959; 49: 253–283.
16.
YatesSMAronsonE. A social psychological perspective on energy conservation in residential buildings. Am Psychol1983; 38: 435.
17.
Ecofys Consultancy. Evaluation of the energy labelling directive and specific aspects of the ecodesign directive. Final Technical Report, European Commission, Netherlands BV, June 2014.
18.
Barlés-Arizón MJ, Fraj-Andrés E and Martínez-Salinas E. Purchase decision-making in the couple. Conflict-solving tactics. Int J Bus Soc Sci 2013; 4: 28–43.
19.
AmeliNBrandtN. Determinants of households’ investment in energy efficiency and renewables: evidence from the OECD survey on household environmental behaviour and attitudes. Environ Res Lett2015; 10: 44015.
20.
BelchMAWillisLA. Family decision at the turn of the century: has the changing structure of households impacted the family decision-making process?J Consum Behav2002; 2: 111–124.
21.
HarcarTSpillanJEKucukemirogluO. A multi‐national study of family decision‐making. Multinatl Bus Rev2006; 13: 3–21.
22.
AnilkumarNJosephJ. Impact of FDU on Urban women in their purchase decision making on home durables, an empirical study specific to Kochi. Int J Econ Manag Sci2014; 3: 194.
23.
HocaoğluDGünal ErtaşDAkbulutD. The changing roles and women in ads used by electronic kitchenware manufacturing sector in Turkey, since beginning to present. In: Eighth Türkiye Tasarım Tarihi Topluluğu Toplantıları (5 T)▪▪. 9–10 May 2013, pp.1–12. İzmir: Yaşar University.
24.
CahaO. Attitudes towards the status of women in Turkish society: the case of Istanbul. Eur J Econ Pol Stud2010; 3: 147–162.
25.
Gündüz-HoşgörASmitsJ. Variation in labor market participation of married women in Turkey. Women Stud Int Forum2008; 31: 104–117.
26.
Carlsson-KanyamaALindénA-L. Energy efficiency in residences – challenges for women and men in the North. Energy Policy2007; 35: 2163–2172.
27.
BelaidFGarciaT. Understanding the spectrum of residential energy-saving behaviours: French evidence using disaggregated data. Energy Econ2016; 57: 204–214.
28.
KalinkaraV. Energy-saving attitudes and the behaviour of women in the use of electrical household appliances in Turkey. Int J Consum Stud1997; 21: 401–409.
MostashariA. Collaborative modeling and decision-making for complex energy systems, Singapore: World Scientific, 2011, pp. 312.
31.
KhansariNMostashariAMansouriM. Conceptual modeling of the impact of smart cities on household energy consumption. Procedia Comput Sci2014; 28: 81–86.
32.
GomiKOchiYMatsuokaY. A systematic quantitative backcasting on low-carbon society policy in case of Kyoto city. Technol Forecast Soc Change2011; 78: 852–871.
33.
YueTLongRChenH. Factors influencing energy-saving behavior of urban households in Jiangsu Province. Energy Policy2013; 62: 655–675.
